SocGen agrees with France, US to end Libya probe

France's second-biggest bank Societe Generale says it has reached an agreement with US and French authorities to settle inquiries into its dealings in Libya.

France's second-biggest bank Societe Generale says it has reached an agreement with US and French authorities to settle inquiries into its dealings in Libya.

Societe Generale also announced that a separate agreement had also been reached to end a probe in the alleged rigging of Libor interest rates.

It did not reveal how much it paid to end the cases, but said it had already provided for the amount in its accounts and that it would have "no impact on Societe Generale's results", according to a report by AFP on the matter.

Last month, the bank said it had set aside one billion euros ($1.2 billion) to settle both the Libor and Libya disputes.

It said the agreements reached with the French financial prosecutor's office and the US Department of Justice would be submitted to the country's courts for approval on June 4 and June 5 respectively.

Societe Generale joins a host of other banks that have reached settlement with US tax authorities for attempting to manipulate the benchmark global interest rate known as Libor, AFP added further in its report.

Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas are among other lenders that have been forced to pay large sums to avoid potentially embarrassing court cases.

The legal woes weighing on the lender were compounded by allegations that it channelled bribes to associates of former Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam.

Last year, the Libya bribery case paid nearly a billion euros to settle a case brought by the Libya Investment Authority.

But it remained under investigation in the US and France over the affair, AFP concluded in its report.